Trust Me
by IronChainDragon
Summary: In which Ib wonders why she can't make friends with someone who has a spine, Joe wonders why he can't make friends with anyone who's 'normal', and Gennai wonders why the DigiDestined don't seem mentally stable enough to be effective. These points may be related.
1. Can I Trust You?

Daichi: So I've been thinking. I've got one version that turned out relatively well adjusted. Then I decided to make a version that isn't so good at dealing with grief. I decided she needed a new best friend to help her with it. I'm not so sure how I came up with Joe Kido as the best solution.

Verity: We don't own anything here.

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"Ib, why don't you make a picture?" Red eyes stared at the blank page in front of her, wondering if she could even do as asked.

"Why?" She replied. Because she knew her answer. A week before, it would have been simple. She would have put her pencil to the paper without much thought, slapped paint on a canvas, enjoyed herself. But she couldn't, anymore.

"Ib, you love to draw. Just last Monday, you covered the floor in paper because there wasn't enough room in your bag to take it all home. What changed?" She didn't look at the teacher, frightened of telling the truth, what the obvious reaction would be.

How could she continue to find joy in something that had, however inadvertently, killed her best/only friend? Nobody else would believe her if she told them what happened, say she was dreaming or something. She'd thought that, too, but the physical evidence- a lighter and some candy- didn't lie.

She fled the room.

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It wasn't the first time that Joe hadn't done as well on a test as he'd hoped. His parents had high expectations from the beginning, and his personal goal in life was to exceed them. Not quite being nine yet, the fact that this might not be healthy never occurred to him.

Rather, he found he excelled in stressful situations, even if his slightly higher than average blood pressure said otherwise. Which only made his occasional failures to live up to his own expectations worse.

He was distracted from his own thoughts by the sounds of someone running past the classroom. Nobody else seemed to notice, except for the teacher, who had a situation to deal with inside the classroom. He didn't know why his classmates would go so far as to pick fights over grades, but it had been a while since he'd actually talked to someone his age.

"Joe? Could you go see what that was?" Putting his own thoughts to the side, he nodded. After all, that would be helpful, which meant he was achieving something, right?

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In hindsight, Ib realized that running off like that wasn't the best idea she'd ever had. Not the worst, either- her worst was kind of hard to top- but far from the best. The day wouldn't end for another fifteen minutes, which was a long time to curl up and cry in a corner, especially if she couldn't tell anyone why.

She hadn't expected anybody to approach. Everyone else seemed to live in their own little worlds where everything was as close to perfect as physically possible. Had things been even the slightest bit different, she could have done the same.

She didn't mind the surprise, though. The fact that there was anyone who actually cared was a nice thought. Not that she was any good at expressing it. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to help." She glanced at the speaker, a boy about her age with glasses that seemed rather large for him. He was slightly taller than her and his hair was a rather familiar shade of blue. She shoved that last detail away and focused on the glasses. At least those didn't bring up painful memories.

"I don't think you can. It's... well..." She didn't know the word to go with the situation. "Difficult," was what she finally settled for.

"Why?" She didn't blame him for asking. Had almost expected it. For a moment, she debated what lie she'd have to tell, before remembering that, even if he didn't believe her, nobody would listen to another kid telling adults there was something wrong with her, even if he might possibly be right.

But he could still turn against her, couldn't he? Just about everyone did at some point or another. Besides her parents, there was exactly one person she could thing of who hadn't. And he wasn't there anymore.

"Can I trust you?" The words were out before she even realized what she was considering. She didn't know him, but... maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

Ib didn't end up telling Joe the truth that day, but she felt that they'd become friends, and maybe, that was enough.

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That night, Ib's parents kept asking her what was wrong. She still couldn't quite answer. It hurt to think about, even now that she was entirely certain that it was real. And nobody would listen to her. Other worlds were things to be discovered by adults, not young girls who didn't understand what they were reading half of the time.

Well, adults wouldn't listen to her, at least. Perhaps another kid would, or they'd treat it as a game, which was much more likely. At least, in most cases.

She wasn't sure which of the two was more likely for Joe. He was hard to read, purely because nobody had ever approached her like that before. It was different. But not entirely unfamiliar.

She had, in fact, met someone like him once before. They weren't exactly alike, but still rather similar, although it took her that long to notice. She didn't know if Joe possessed the same hidden courage that Garry had when she was threatened, but...

"I'm not replacing him," She whispered to herself, not entirely believing it. "I'm not even sure I could."

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Daichi: See, the main difference between this Ib and the one of 'Rainbow' is simple. The latter has had time to cope, a willingness to move on, and some amount of remaining optimism. This one has had a week, tops, to deal, doesn't realize that her coping mechanisms aren't healthy, and has a new friend that is just as cynical as she is.


	2. Can You Keep A Secret?

Daichi: In which time passes, but very little of note happens.

Verity: We still don't own anything.

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Ib wandered the halls of the school building a month later, trying to peer through the crowds. "I know I saw him earlier..." She muttered, wishing that she'd thought to speak to him then, instead of waiting until the lunch break. Eventually, she spotted the person she was looking for on the stairs. "Joe! There you are!"

Said boy in question had been adjusting his glasses, and her calling out to him actually startled him into dropping them. Somehow, this didn't surprise her.

"You should be more careful with these, you know," She stated, picking them off the floor and inspecting them for damage, "Forget the crowds, just falling from high enough could break them." Joe snatched the glasses back from her.

"And you think messing around with them is going to help? Didn't you want me for something?"

"I can't just come and wish my friend a happy birthday?" It had taken some amount of effort to get that information- she'd only come up with it a few days before- but she was glad she did, if only for the look on his face.

"I- would you believe I actually forgot about that?" He put his glasses back on. Ib noted that she could definitely believe it, if only because he never seemed to remember little details like what day it was when he was focused on something, and there was always something for him to focus on.

It was great for studying. It wasn't so great when it came to keeping track of semi-important but unrelated events to whatever he cared about most at the moment. At least, once he completed whatever he was doing, he tended to actually remember those details, although it was a toss-up as to whether or not they still mattered at that point.

"Honestly, do you pay any attention to anything but your books?" She asked. Not that the content of the conversation really mattered. She just needed somebody to talk to.

And, of course, she really did hope the time around his birthday ended up better than hers had been. Although, to be fair, that wasn't exactly a difficult thing to accomplish.

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"Joe?" Ib asked, a few weeks later, "Do you believe in other worlds?" Her notebook was in front of her, but she wasn't entirely capable of reading her own handwriting at times when she hadn't been properly focused while writing, and she hadn't been able to keep her mind on one thing all day. Sleep deprivation from constant nightmares would do that.

"What do you mean?" He sounded skeptical already, not a good sign. But now that the first bit was out, she couldn't stop herself.

"I mean places not like this. Entire worlds that can't usually be accessed, because they aren't part of normal reality." Without thinking, she picked up Joe's pencil and sketched a rose into the margins of her notebook. As much as she might have tried to distance herself from her old hobby, going as far as to burn all of her art supplies, it still came creeping back at times.

"You're not making any sense. Other worlds, why would you consider such a thing?" Sometimes, Ib couldn't help but feel sorry for her friend. He had no imagination. But she had to tell somebody the truth.

"Because I... can you keep a secret? I've been to one." She didn't have to look at him to see the shock on his face. "It was right after my birthday, even."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because nobody else will listen." She didn't tell him everything. Some parts of it she wanted to keep for herself. But somehow, acknowledging that it had really happened, even if it was to somebody who didn't entirely believe her, made her feel slightly better.

Slightly. But it was a start. Not much of one. But she was sure she'd get there eventually.

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Joe was half certain that Ib was completely insane. Only half, because she didn't seem too sure about what she said, either, and he got the feeling he was being let in on a big secret, complete unbelievability aside.

A living nightmare, taking the form of an art gallery to trap unfortunate visitors, with only one survivor? He didn't really think anything like that could ever happen, even if she claimed to have physical proof. He wasn't going to ask for it, if only because that would be like admitting something like that could ever actually happen, and he wasn't quite ready for his entire worldview to be dismantled just yet.

So, he pushed his doubts aside, just for a bit. He would avoid the topic, and Ib would too, although Joe wasn't entirely sure that was healthy, at least if she really was telling the truth. But he figured she'd tell him if it got too serious.

Years passed, like that, until Joe's parents decided that he needed to relax, if only because they didn't want him to suffer a heart attack before he even managed to graduate high school, and that summer camp was a good option.

He couldn't exactly deny the existence of other worlds after that.

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Daichi: Now, as it turns out, people with little to no emotional support do not make good protagonists if the goal is to be as effective as possible. Which is, unfortunately, the case. On the plus side, one person can't completely destroy things too badly, right?

Verity: Shall I point you to just about every game we've ever played? Of course that's going to happen.

Daichi: Well, at least it's bound to be somewhat entertaining. For us. Not them. They probably won't be having much fun at all.


	3. I Thought It Was Midsummer

Daichi: I think this take of the adventure will be… let's go with realistic. Relatively. It's the Digital World. Basically, I shall, for this iteration, attempt to apply logical consequences and see where it goes from there.

Verity: If we owned this, it would come with logic pre-installed.

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Summer camp was generally a mixed bag for those involved. There were the ones that truly wanted to be there. There were the ones forced to attend by parents, for one reason or another. And there were the ones like Ib, who simply didn't care. She'd only showed up because she'd be home with nothing to do for the summer otherwise.

She sat on a large set of stone steps, because nothing was going on, and she wouldn't be particularly interested if it were. She turned the object in her hand over, before the sound of approaching footsteps caused her to stuff it back in her pocket and glance innocently at the clouds.

"You know you really shouldn't have that here," Joe pointed out. She shrugged.

"It won't even light. And it's not like I'll bring it out around anyone else. Do you really think I'd be that crazy? Don't answer that," She cut him off as he opened his mouth, because she got the feeling she knew exactly how he'd answer.

She wasn't too worried about him reporting her, mainly because they were the only two at camp who were willing to put up with each other. Joe had a tendency to drive people away with his apparent obsession for responsibility, and Ib's social skills were just barely on this side of nonexistent.

She shivered a bit, wondering where the sudden chill had come from. It was the middle of summer, and there didn't seem to be a breeze. Come to think of it, there hadn't been clouds until about three minutes ago, give or take a bit.

"Joe… isn't that snow?" she asked, uncertain. Snow wasn't really a big thing for her, but she was pretty sure that was what a snowflake looked like, if those nature documentaries hadn't been lying to her. Not that she'd put it past them. Or anyone.

"It- wait, what?" Joe clearly hadn't been looking up.

"Yeah, it looks like snow. Funny. I thought it was midsummer." Ib came to the sudden realization that in no way was she dressed for this. Short sleeves and an impromptu blizzard simply didn't mix. Her natural reaction was to run to the nearest shelter, which just so happened to be at the top of the stairs.

It then turned out that six other kids had gotten the exact same idea. Not too surprising, given that the other options- the cabins- were three minutes away at a dead sprint, not counting the stairs. She'd checked.

This was going to be a long snowstorm.

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All things considered, it wasn't that bad. It was true that the other kids weren't people that Ib would normally talk to, given that she barely put up with just Joe on a good day, but they were nice enough.

Of course, their new acquaintanceship would likely have been more pleasant if the weather outside wasn't just shy of freezing, but she'd take what she could get. From the redheaded Izzy complaining about internet going down- she hadn't even realized the camp had internet- to Tai and Matt fighting, she was honestly just glad when the storm died down. There was social awkwardness, and then there was just wanting to crawl in a hole and die.

Her plan for the immediate future had been to go to the cabin, pack her stuff because she knew there was no way the summer camp was staying open after the weather had done its best impression of midwinter, and try to ignore the rather blatant weirdness. She'd had enough of that back when she was nine, and didn't intend for more.

Her plans didn't pan out anywhere near as expected, as while she managed to push her way past the people gawking at the aurora, something crashing down in front of her was rather hard to ignore.

She only realized that grabbing the strange device was a bad idea after the portal had opened, which, to be fair, was about the same time everyone else did, too.

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"Ib… come on Ib, wake up." She didn't know that voice. Yet the voice somehow knew her name. And given that Ib was aware of the existence of other worlds and that she had gone through some sort of portal, that was definitely cause for alarm.

She pushed herself up, sparing a moment to be grateful that at least the pain wasn't blinding, this time, and opened her eyes. There was a cry from the small green ball that fell to the ground. It had a leaf for a tail, and was covered in spikes, which were now stuck in the dirt. "Help me…"

"What are you?" Ib asked the little thing, trying to sound cold, and failing miserably. The tiny creature wiggled a bit until she could pop out of the ground.

"M-my name's Budmon. I… I was w-waiting for you. For as long as I… as I can remember… I knew you'd come."

"How did you know that?" Ib had, over time, developed new guidelines to follow on the off chance she ended up in another dimension again. Her first rule was not to get attached to anything or anyone in this new world until some amount of trust had been established. She didn't want to avoid attachments entirely, if only because she had no clue if she could ever even go home, and could use some good friends if she couldn't, but she was still wary of possible betrayal.

"I'm… I'm meant to be your partner. To- to p-protect you. I'm not sure why… but I'll be the best Digimon you could ever have!" Budmon seemed to ignore her hostility, or be completely unaware of it.

Hostility that was slowly dissipating. Because the more Ib looked at the little- Digimon, was it?- the more she realized that, despite the thorns, and the knowledge that she really shouldn't have, she was, as far as she could tell, harmless. Which, admittedly, would make her declaration of protection laughable to anyone else.

"You want to protect me, huh?" Carefully, Ib picked up her Digimon, noting that Budmon fit almost perfectly into her hands. "That's fine. Just promise me something first."

"What's that?"

"Don't do anything stupid." That wasn't what she'd originally wanted to say, but it would work. Budmon's tail curled around Ib's hands.

"I promise." She got the feeling that this wasn't the only rule she'd end up breaking. But for now, she had to find the others.

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Daichi: Originally, Ib wanted to tell Budmon not to get herself killed. And odds are that Budmon will do something stupid in the future, purely because the DigiDestined, at times, seem to be a comedy of errors.


	4. We're Supposed To Work Together

Daichi: Now, moving along for the sake of semi-productivity… yeah, not even pretending anymore. Let's see where this goes.

Tsukaimon: Don't own anything… don't particularly want to own anything, if this is the result…

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Forty-five minutes. That was how long it took for Budmon to do something stupid. For a given definition, anyway. And Ib supposed she couldn't really get mad, what with the rest of the Digimon doing the same thing.

It had all been fine until the Kuwagamon showed up. Because apparently giant killer insects were a thing here. She wanted to say she was surprised. She really did.

And of course they ended up being chased to the edge of a cliff. Because today was just turning out to be a really, really bad day. But she'd accepted that when she fell through the portal. Other worlds did not play nice.

They had been cornered, so of course the Digimon chose to fight back. All eight of them. The blobs were cute, but in no way were they effective fighters.

"You shouldn't have done that," Ib muttered, scooping Budmon up in her hands once again. "There wasn't any way for you to win."

"But I had to try," She squeaked in return. "I'm your partner. It's my job to protect you."

"I'm not quite sure you understand what 'partners' means. We're supposed to work together." Not that she expected to be any good in a fight. Especially without any sort of functional weapon. But that wasn't exactly the point she was trying to make.

She didn't think she could handle it if someone ended up sacrificing themselves to save her. Not again.

And Budmon didn't listen. She just charged in to fight again. And while Ib had pretty much resigned herself to nothing going as planned, there were things she just didn't want to see. She wanted the little spiked creature to be safe.

Lalamon was still adorable, even if she didn't quite fit into her partner's hands anymore.

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And Joe said swimming lessons were a waste of time. Ib supposed she could forever find satisfaction at being right, because the other was just so smart it was hard to win. But that wasn't the important bit now.

They were still lost in a world that wasn't their own. A point made with every word that the Digimon said, proven more and more by even the plants around them.

"Are you sure?" Izzy asked, not for the first time, and given that this was day one, certainly not the last.

"I think I can recognize a portal when I go through one," She replied. "And does this look like anyplace we'd find in our world?"

"If we're the first humans on the island, it could just be that it hasn't been discovered yet." Which was, admittedly, the logical conclusion. Except for the whole 'arrived by portal' thing. And the fact that Digivolution clearly broke the laws of Earth physics.

"If she says we're in another world, we're probably in another world," Joe spoke up. "And in that case, we just have to find a portal back."

"It's not that easy." That assumed that there even was a portal back. For all any of them knew, they could be trapped there forever.

At least, in terms of places they could be trapped in, she supposed it wasn't that bad. By no means was it a safe place, but at least it didn't seem to be actively out to get them.

She decided against mentioning that to the others, though. Joe already knew, and it wasn't like prior experience really meant something when it had been so different.

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"So, how many of us have actually been camping before?" Ib asked, as they all sat around on the beach. Mimi was the only one to raise her hand. This was not a good sign.

But she did have a survival kit, which was probably the most important thing they had. She had no illusions as to how long the emergency food would last, what with their group size having suddenly doubled.

"The phone booths don't work," Joe sighed. "But we sort of expected that."

"Nobody ever really comes to or leaves this island," Lalamon chipped in. "Well, aquatic Digimon sometimes come up the rivers, but that's all."

"Digimon live in the water, too?" Tai asked. Everyone glanced out to the surf, and Gomamon. "...Right."

It seemed that their only hope to survive was in trusting the Digimon, who had been fending for themselves all their lives. Who, until today, had stood no chance against any opponent, and even now were on the weaker side of the spectrum when it came to power.

Ib hated it. She'd had the choice to walk away, technically, but she'd never considered it an option. Being thrown a small blue device and deciding whether or not to pick it up should not have been a life-changing decision.

Her little device was tucked snugly away in her pocket, next to the comforting feeling of Garry's lighter. Which she was not going to mention to the others, because it wasn't useful at the moment as anything other than a security blanket.

Probably wouldn't ever be. But even as a simple weight in her pocket, it made things better. Not good, though she figured she could manage it on a better day, but nice enough.

"None of my stuff has been working since we got here," Izzy groaned, although Ib thought it had just as much to do with falling of the cliff and into the river as the portal. Maybe.

Things like perception of time could be messed with. Memories could be altered. Physical objects didn't seem to be affected, although she hadn't had the time or inclination for proper observation. Well, no time like the present.

Or maybe later. When there wasn't an offended Shellmon to deal with. Possibly once they'd managed to convince Tai to start thinking before acting. And it wasn't too important, anyway, compared to the main goal of survival. Everything else came later.

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Daichi: ...Including her own mental health. But that was sort of a given.


	5. I Wish I Could Believe You

Daichi: Let's just skip ahead a bit, and see what we can find…

Verity: We own nothing. Just messing around for a bit.

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Despite being the oldest of the group, Ib hadn't been given a watch shift.

She didn't want to think it was a big deal. They'd just arrived in this new world, and were still working things out. The boys learning that girls were just as capable of keeping their eyes open at night would just have to be part of it.

But she was also the oldest. And, in the world of unsupervised children, that implied a certain responsibility to ensure the safety of the younger ones. So she still ended up staying awake later than she probably should have, simply walking around the edges of the lake.

Bright moon, brilliant stars… this world seemed a far cry from the hellish nightmare she was trapped in when she was nine, and she was grateful for that.

"Ib? What's wrong?" And, of course, Lalamon had followed her. Because that was how their partnership was meant to work. Side by side, always supporting each other.

"Does anything have to be?" She replied, leaning down and dipping her fingers into the lake. Wherever she made contact with the water, ripples spread out, lapping against the shore.

She knew, theoretically, that if she were to violently plunge her hand in, the force of water would reach a leaf just on the edge of the shore, and drag it under. At that leaf, laying on the lakebed, could be taken as indirect proof of her existence, if she felt like getting philosophical about it.

Not that Ib liked getting philosophical about things. It brought up too many questions that she didn't really want to know the answers to.

"I don't know, it's just… you're not how I imagined you'd be." Another question she didn't want to know the answer to. Just how Lalamon even knew about her.

"How long were you waiting for me?"

"Oh, I dunno. Years and years."

"Well, that's your problem. People change." They developed interests, made friends, grew up… died… and now she'd succeeded in depressing herself again. She needed to stop doing that.

But, well, she'd been forced to accept the reality of human mortality at the age of nine, committed what could either be classified as arson or murder, and had a list of rules for dimensional travel born from clearly-justified paranoia. So, all things considered, she thought she'd made out just fine.

Joe disagreed, but Joe worried about everything. So she didn't think it'd be an issue.

Especially given the fact that Lalamon took her answer without asking any more questions. And that was good, because right then the possibility of a flashback was far too high even without them.

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Just as Ib was the last child to fall asleep, she ended up being the first one awake in the morning. Part of it was the return of the Gallery nightmares, the other part was Lalamon waking up and craving breakfast.

"I can't cook," She tried pointing out, but the little Digimon waved off her concerns.

"If we have to get berries, I'll share with you!" When she was younger, the amount of energy her partner had would have made her a good playmate. As it was, Ib simply found her mildly amusing.

"Don't go too far. I wouldn't want to lose you." She wasn't sure in what sense she was using the term 'lose', nor did she think that she wanted to be. Because if someone asked her that question, she'd have to answer, and it'd probably end with that someone thinking she was crazy. Or broken. Or both.

Personally, her money was on both.

"Don't worry! With Seadramon gone, everything will be just fine!"

"I wish I could believe you." But she'd been hurt far too many times for that.

It was sad. But, sometimes, that was just a fact of life.

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"We are now walking through the Forest of Irrelevant Road Signs. No pictures, please." Ib tried to tune out Matt so she could think, but ended up tripping over her own feet and knocking into Joe.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just… trying to figure something out. Lost focus on everything else."

"What is it? It's probably more interesting than Izzy's conspiracy theories." ...No, she didn't want to know.

"Well… I want to know what kind of world this is," She admitted. "I mean, our world consistently obeys what we consider to be 'normal' physics, and metaphysics aren't even seriously touched upon. The… the Gallery had a sort of art focus, and it was affected by symbolism to some extent." The roses. Representative of life, so everything that harmed them, harmed that life, and vice versa. "This world… from what I can see, it doesn't seem to follow any sort of pattern, even physics… though we've only been here for a day, and it's not an enclosed space, so…"

"...Ib, have you been binge-reading the math and science section at the library again?"

"It's farthest from the art section. And you know my parents want me to be well-read, if I can't bring myself to be an artist." Joe sighed and shook his head, which she took to mean that he was wondering about her sanity again. Not that she could blame him for that.

"I'm not sure that's what that means."

Gomamon lifted his head to look at them. "Hey, Joe, Ib, what's a library?"

"Oh, I want to know that, too!" Lalamon chimed in.

"Really? You don't even know what a library is?"

"Well, we haven't seen a book since we got here," Ib pointed out, before turning to the Digimon. "Libraries are places where large amounts of information are kept, as well as stories that exist as… well, I'd say they're like little portals to other worlds, but for all I know, that's exactly what they are, and nobody's let the facts of how they work be known yet. When you think of it, anything could be a portal. Books, holes in the sky, paintings…"

"Holes in the sky? That can happen?" The little seal asked. Joe blinked.

"...Yeah, that's how we got here. First real evidence of it being a portal, really…" And that was the point that Ib realized Joe had started believing her at some point or another. Likely in the last day or so.

There was nothing better for removing the ability to deny something than experiencing it yourself, after all.

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Verity: So Ib's now… a heavily traumatized nerd?

Daichi: Joe is not good for low-stress situations. Mostly because Joe is not low-stress. But at least she's no longer burning things in a ritualistic bonfire.


	6. It's Not A Question of Trust

Daichi: More Digimon, more trauma, what's not to like?

Tsukaimon: You're missing 'more fun'.

Verity: And this is why we don't own things. It just doesn't work out.

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Lalamon couldn't fly very well, over the desert. The dry heat sapped her energy and made her weak. Ib didn't mind. Her partner was small enough to carry without much difficulty. No, it was being in this situation in the first place that bothered her.

The group hadn't meant to go out into the desert. But Tai had rushed out, and the others had followed him without thinking, and now they were lost in the rows of endless dunes.

"Hey, Mimi, you have a compass, right?" Joe checked. The girl in pink pulled out the object in question.

"Yeah, about that…" The needle was now spinning around and around, which probably said something about the contents of the sand, but Ib wasn't entirely sure what that was.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine!" The reason for their predicament shrugged it off. She almost wished she could be so carefree, aside from the fact that she simply couldn't afford it. Someone had to take care of the others, after all.

"Just wait until you're dying of thirst, that'll change your mind pretty quickly," She commented. Thankfully, she hadn't been trapped in the Gallery long enough for it to be a concern- actually, come to think of it, those Eternal Blessings could be used as a source if she'd had to, couldn't they?- but she was reliably informed that it was painful.

"Please don't joke about that…" Joe sighed. "It's bad enough as it is, stop making it worse!"

"Yeah, he has a point," Matt agreed. "Isn't that just a bit… you know… morbid?"

"Maybe a little," Ib admitted. But she'd needed something to keep her mind off of the painful reality that was being trapped in an unfamiliar world. Maybe this time, they'd get through it without any deaths.

...Well, she could dream, anyway.

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The Pyocomon village. A place in the middle of the desert with food, water, and shelter. Ib couldn't have found a better place if she'd tried. Mostly due to her lack of geography knowledge, but that was besides the point.

One of her rules for safely navigating other worlds was to try and avoid being outnumbered if possible. That way, any betrayal could be handled without an immediate disadvantage.

Not that advantage of numbers was a surefire victory. But there was a better chance of her side of the fight having survivors, and that was all she really wanted. Preferably, it'd be more than just her this time.

Unfortunately, Ib realized that advantage of numbers simply wasn't going to happen today, even if she took the partners as automatically being on the same side as their human. And food and water were important, if only because they were in the middle of a desert. Starvation, dehydration, freezing, and heat stroke were all very real dangers there, and none of them had a lot of wilderness survival knowledge.

In her case, it was a terrible oversight that she'd have to rectify as soon as possible. For now, though, she would walk through the village with Lalamon and keep an eye on everything. Just in case.

"So, how did you Digivolve?" She heard a Pyocomon ask. Pausing, she turned to see that Sora and Biyomon were nearby, though the bird didn't seem to notice her partner's presence.

"Well, I'm not really sure. But I think it was because Sora needed me! The two of us have a magical bond."

"Magic, huh…?" Ib shook her head. "No, that can't be it."

"Why not?" Lalamon asked.

"That's just not how it works. I don't get hurt if you're hurt. If I give you power, then why?"

"I don't know," The plant creature in her arms admitted. "I just know that I wouldn't be here without you."

"What do you mean?"

"You're the reason I exist. I'm not sure why, but… I guess that's why we need each other." Ib wanted to deny it, but really, what was the point? They both knew she wasn't anywhere near powerful enough to fight the things that kept attacking her and the others. No, if she made it through this alive, it would be due to Lalamon.

She hated it. She hated having to rely on another for her survival. She hated that she might, one day, have to send her Digimon friend to her death, in order to save herself.

And she especially hated the fact that the little pink thing would likely be entirely willing to go through with it.

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Ib didn't like watching the Digimon fight. Standing at the top of a ship on the bottom of an empty lake was something not many got to experience, and yet, there she was.

It wasn't an improvement over watching Greymon and Garurumon's battles. Meramon and Birdramon were specks at the edge of her vision, and she couldn't even see the fire, let alone reassure herself that Sora's partner was going to be just fine. And that was what she needed the most. Reassurance.

"Um… are you okay?" It was the little kid. T.K., Matt's brother. "It'll be fine, Digivolving's always worked before!"

"It might not, this time," She replied, as quietly as she could.

"What makes you think that?" Patamon asked.

"That's just how life works. Some things work out, others don't. Yes, we've always been just strong enough to win- but only just. One day, it might not end so well."

"What are you talking about?" Gomamon waddled up to them, his human partner not far behind. "Don't you trust us?"

"That's not the problem, Gomamon," Joe said. "Even if I'm not really sure of the answer…"

"She has to trust me, at least!" Lalamon insisted. "I'm her partner!"

"It's not a question of trust," Ib ground out. "It's just… reality. Bad things happen, and you can't always do anything to stop them, no matter how much you might wish otherwise."

"Ib… was hurt, in her past. A lot," Joe tried to explain. Given the fact that she didn't tell him everything, and that their audience was basically a pack of children, she wasn't sure he'd be able to get the point across that well. "She thought someone was her friend, she wasn't, and it ended… badly."

There was a pause, before T.K. spoke again. "Are you sure this isn't about trust?"

Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. But even if it was a question about trust, the exact wording was something very different from what Gomamon had asked.

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Izzy was still trying to get his computer to work. From what Joe could hear as he lay on the ground nearby, he wasn't having much luck. He didn't want to disturb the other boy, instead pushing himself up to look at everyone else, sprawled out around the village. With one exception.

He'd like to say that he knew Ib rather well. Years of being each other's only friends would do that. He knew why she did the things she did, the reason the doodles in the margins of her notebooks unnerved her, how she would react to just about anything mundane life had to throw at a couple of kids who didn't see the need to venture far from home, and preferred companionable silence to drawn-out discussions.

But there was a difference, between knowing something and fully understanding it, which was probably why she could still surprise him.

"You're still up?" He found himself asking, weaving through the tiny houses to join her at the lakeside.

"Someone has to be."

"I don't really know about that." He shrugged. "I mean, you didn't even bring Lalamon with you."

"Do you really think she'd be able to stay up this long?" She sighed, turning over a lighter in her hand. Joe considered saying something about that, but thought better of it. Now wasn't the time to dredge up memories.

"You really should get some more sleep. I don't think this is healthy."

"And your studying habits are?" He laughed, because Ib had a point. He did tend to overwork himself, though he was always stopped before it got too far. And getting into an argument over that wouldn't change things.

Not that he wanted things to change, at the moment. Sure, they weren't great, but… they could be far worse. At least they had a night of peace.

Hopefully, things would start to get better soon.

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Daichi: ...Oh, now I remember why I thought these two would be good friends. She gets him to mellow out, while he can stop her from diving so deep into paranoid planning that she never comes out.

Verity: Admittedly, that's not saying all that much. For either of them. Which is why you usually try and keep the cynics apart. It's just that they're actually willing to put up with each other.


	7. It's Not Going To Make This Any Easier

Daichi: Now, for the hard part. Because Ib needs to comment on at least a small part of every episode to detail the long-term effects of her presence… no matter how long it takes for them to appear.

Tsukaimon: 02's going to be… interesting… isn't it?

Verity: We don't own anything.

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There were many things that Ib did not like about the current situation. The first, and most obvious, was that they were still in another world and had no way home, as well as being, last she checked, in the middle of the desert.

Second, and a fair bit more pressing, was the fact that the group had split in half about an hour ago. They'd ended up in what looked like an abandoned factory, and decided to explore in search of… something. She wasn't quite sure what.

She'd object, if Tai weren't so forceful, or maybe if she were a bit more confident. Or if she weren't struggling to hold off a panic attack from being in a dark, abandoned hallway.

As it was, she just focused on where Joe was going. They had Tai and Sora, that was two likely combat-ready Digimon as opposed to the other group, which had just Matt and Gabumon.

None of them really talked about what they hoped to discover. But Ib wanted to find a door to the outside, where she could stand under the sun again and remind herself that she wasn't that same little girl anymore. Or, at least, stop glancing over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed by anything.

"It's just a little farther," Joe told her, and she'd point out that he had no way of knowing that, if it were a better day. But better days probably wouldn't be coming for a long time, and she just had to accept that. "We'll be out soon."

"I hope you're right…" She just had to breathe. She wasn't alone, the Digimon were capable of fighting back against anything that tried to hurt them, it'd be okay. Maybe.

"What's wrong with her?" She could hear Tai asking, up ahead. Agumon shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe she's scared of the dark."

"That's… not quite it," Joe stated. "Hey, Ib, I think I see some light up ahead, there might be a window." A window. A potential door to freedom, if Sora and Biyomon had enough of a part to play in this. Maybe even a room, with a door that could be locked at the first sign of danger.

"That… that sounds nice," She admitted. "Let's head that way, then."

When Ib saw the helpless body caught in the gears, the memories intensified. And soon enough she was running again, and wondered why she even bothered pretending it wasn't like the Gallery in the first place.

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She wasn't entirely sure what happened next. Lalamon told her that they were running for a very long time- probably true, given how much her feet had been sore afterwards. Joe told her that she'd been hallucinating the entire time- also probably true, it wouldn't be the first time her mind made up strange things when she was scared or upset that she couldn't really remember later.

She did remember Kabuterimon, of course. Giant insects were not very easily missed, as much as she might have wished for that back in the jungle. And Andromon had apparently had his mind stolen by whatever controlled those Black Gears, or that's what she was told after the fact. She hadn't been in the proper mental state to take in much of anything.

Ib blamed the fact that she'd been walking through the hallways of an abandoned building only to be chased by something that wanted her dead. That would probably be enough to give anyone flashbacks, really. Not that she could check.

Still, as much as she'd hated the fact that she'd lost her composure in front of the other kids- even worse than in the first few months, when she'd freeze up whenever she saw a mannequin- it was over now, and she didn't think it was likely to become a problem again, if only because this world couldn't have that many abandoned buildings.

Sure most worlds probably didn't have random trolley cars or phone booths lying around, but she was actually trying to be optimistic for once.

It probably wouldn't last. She just wasn't that kind of person.

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It was the sunlight that made things better, sort of. It had driven the Numemon away, and served as a reminder, for Ib, that things could, in fact, end well some of the time.

"So, which way are we going now?" She asked. Maybe, if she focused enough on the present, she wouldn't have to deal with anything else.

Probably not. She wasn't that lucky. But she could still try, at least.

"It looks like there's a forest in that direction," Lalamon suggested. "Some shade would be nice."

"I'm just glad we're out of the desert," Tai admitted. Everyone else gave groans of agreement, some louder than others.

"Nobody talk about deserts for at least another week," Gabumon said. "Do you know how hard it is to clean fine sand out of my fur?"

"No, but you don't, either," Gomamon pointed out. "You haven't even been Gabumon that long!"

Ib sighed. "Please don't fight, any of you. It's not going to make this any easier." She'd already given up on sorting out her memories of that morning, the least she deserved was a somewhat-pleasant afternoon.

Something told her she wasn't getting it.

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Ib was sadly used to things spiralling out of her control. If she'd ever had any sort of control in the first place. She still wasn't too sure on that.

Being cornered by a giant demonic teddy bear, engulfed in a heart-shaped bubble, and released in the middle of what looked to be a town square, with no Lalamon in sight, seemed to be just another strange and terrible experience in the list of strange and terrible experiences that was her life.

And, arguably, she was one of the lucky ones, if being the only one that didn't act like a zombie and run off chased by a horde of toys counted as lucky.

She didn't move at first, or say anything, in order to ensure that Monzaemon didn't realize that whatever he did to the others didn't work on her. Because she didn't know if whatever happened before would work again.

Something poked her leg, and she glanced down to see a small crowd of plushies standing in front of her. One of them, a light-purple elephant, held up a sign.

 **Can we play now?**

It was a simple question, and one she immediately had an answer for. No, she did not want to play, and she almost outright said it.

She then remembered that there were no Digimon in sight besides the one that could apparently muck up people's minds, so instead, she asked, "What would you like to play?"

 **Let's play chase!**

Well, there was a benefit to all that. If she could just lose them, she could search for Lalamon, because leaving this town without her partner was something she did not plan to do. And maybe she could figure out a way to help the others, while she was at it.

Dolls couldn't be that difficult to hide from, right?

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Well… that answered that. Half an hour of running, and it seemed like there was a plushy behind every corner. Also a manhole, but Ib didn't feel like dealing with any more Numemon today.

There were also no signs of her partner Digimon. She knew she shouldn't worry- this was the world Lalamon was native to- but she couldn't help it. In yet another hostile situation, separated from everyone she cared about… why was this normal now? How was this her life?

"Ib!" A voice. An actual, human voice. Worst case, it was someone to watch her while she had another panic attack, because this was just not her day.

"Mimi," She gasped, running up to the girl in pink, who now that she thought back, wasn't caught in a bubble like the rest of them. A familiar plant stood behind her leg. "And Palmon. You're both okay?"

"We guess…" Mimi's Digimon said, glancing at her. "What happened? Where's Lalamon?"

"I don't know. Monzaemon put us all in heart-shaped bubbles, and then everyone began acting strange, and I couldn't find any of our Digimon." Which was sort of the most dangerous part. "Also, there's a small army of plushies intent on chasing me, but they don't seem to be out to actually harm anyone. ...Such as that," She sighed when the trio of kittens appeared. "I'd better run. See if you can't find Lalamon for me, okay!?"

It probably wasn't a good idea to leave Mimi alone in Toy Town, but the alternative was being smothered in fluff, so Ib didn't think that much of it. Besides, what help could she be without her Digimon?

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When Palmon Digivolved to Togemon in order to fight Monzaemon, Ib was watching from nearby, covered in plushies. They… actually weren't that bad, even if she still couldn't look directly at them without bringing up bad memories.

And the battle… well, it was impressive, and it made her wonder what Lalamon would look like when she Digivolved. Probably still some type of plant.

Not that it mattered, if Ib couldn't get her to Digivolve in the first place. More than half of them had already managed it, leaving just her, Joe, and T.K. left to see what their Digimon would look like in a Champion state. Just three of them left without any real ability to defend themselves.

And of course she was one of them. Why wouldn't she be? She'd always been helpless, not even able to save herself without assistance, and now she was trying to look out for seven more kids. And if Mimi hadn't gotten away, she would have been left the only one aware, unable to even do anything because her partner was locked in a box.

If life was a game, like the toys tried to make it out to be… she was clearly a terrible player. And she didn't think there was even a way to fix that.

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Daichi: Yes, some of this is actually important. It's not just her continually failing to accomplish anything- it's only been a few days, it's just that a day on File Island is… eventful.


	8. I Don't Know

Daichi: And here is where the important questions finally start being asked.

Verity: We don't own anything.

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As the group of sixteen continued walking, it started to get cold. Ib shivered, being dressed for midsummer and not having any alternatives on hand.

"You think it'll start to snow soon?" Tai asked.

"I hope not!" Joe stated. "Snow means soaked feet, lost visibility, and possible hypothermia! ...Then again, that last one might still happen."

"Please don't remind me…" Ib sighed. "Does anyone see something we could use as a form of shelter? That'd be pretty useful right about now."

"Biyomon, Tentomon, Patamon, and I could fly above the trees to look," Lalamon suggested.

"No, that won't be necessary. We can keep walking."

"But it'd be quicker that way!"

"No means no, Lalamon." After what had happened with Monzaemon, she was unwilling to let her partner out of her sight. Not that it would have been a good idea to begin with, the Digimon were their only hope of being able to survive in this world.

"Would snow really be that bad?" T.K. asked.

"They say the most important things are food, water, and shelter," Mimi responded. "Snow would provide water, but for the rest…" Sometimes, Ib forgot that the youngest girl in the group had actually gone camping before. She needed to stop doing that.

There did end up being snow on the ground. But at least it actually started out on the ground, and there were hot springs nearby. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse.

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"We're not climbing the mountain right now," Ib declared.

"Why not?" Tai asked.

"Well, because the sun's already set, for one thing. We need to sleep." Besides, there was something off about that mountain, and it wasn't something she wanted a kid as young as T.K. near. He was younger than she was in the Gallery!

"But later?"

"If you can give me a good reason at the time." And that was all she had to say on the matter.

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"When was the last time you slept through a whole night?" Joe asked. There was no way he wasn't going to worry about his friend, especially after she'd blanked out while they were running from Andromon, experienced or not.

Ib shrugged, which counted as a very bad sign in and of itself. "I don't know. Before we got here, I think. Not sure on the exact day."

"That… you know that's not healthy, right?"

"It's safer." Joe glanced at where Lalamon was asleep in his friend's arms. Somehow, he wasn't all that convinced. "What are you doing up?"

He paused. Really, he wasn't sure of that himself. It was just… something kept pulling him awake. "I… I think it's something about that mountain. I can't stop thinking about it."

"I already said we weren't climbing it. Besides, you have a seal, what's that going to do against a mountain?" Thinking on realistic terms? Not much. But then again, this world didn't necessarily operate on realistic terms, and they both already knew this.

"Well, he can throw fish at it… And he could Digivolve."

"He hasn't yet." But now Ib, too, was looking pensively up the mountain. "If that ends up being our way home… how would we even get there?"

"Climbing, I guess."

"Very funny. There just… mountains are difficult. High ledges, high altitude, and I don't think any of us have so much as gone rock climbing before." That… was probably true. But there wasn't really a better time to learn, was there? "Joe… you're starting to scare me."

If Joe were a less sensitive person, or if it'd be less obviously hypocritical, he'd point out that everything scared her in this world. Because it did, and that was clear, and maybe it affected her judgement more than a little bit, but there were reasons for that that actually made a good amount of sense.

...Mostly. He still couldn't picture how anything in her past could have actually happened, but maybe he'd need to have been there for that, so it was probably a good thing.

But being scared wasn't something they were allowed to be, if they hoped to survive in this world. And he understood that enough to know exactly what he was going to do next.

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Ib was furious. She'd turned her back on Joe for just a few minutes, trusting him to go back to sleep like anyone sensible would, and instead he went to climb up a mountain on his own! He'd taken Gomamon with him, which was itself a small blessing, but the fact remained that he was still climbing a mountain, mostly on his own, in the middle of the night.

Thankfully, he wasn't very active. Neither was she, but at least she didn't lock herself inside with books all day. "Joe, wait up!"

"Told you we weren't gonna make it," Gomamon remarked. "See? You should have carried me, just like I said."

"You just didn't want to have to walk," Lalamon spoke up. Ib sighed, because this would be so much easier without their odd little friends being there to deal with.

"Joe, everyone was staying back by the hot springs for a reason. It's dangerous here right now."

"Would it ever not be?" She paused, because she knew he was right, but this wasn't the time for that, really. Maybe that time would never come, because to admit anything would be to let her already unstable house of cards come crashing down.

"...You still didn't have to do this alone. Come on." She strode past him, up the mountain path.

If he insisted on doing something reckless and putting himself in danger… then she was going to be right beside him, all the way.

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Of course, just being there wasn't going to change anything.

It had started with the Unimon. Well, more precisely, it started with the Black Gear that had embedded itself in the Unimon, causing it to set its sights on them as potential targets. Ib still wasn't sure why having gears in them suddenly made something go homicidal, and she didn't want to know. Some things were better off hidden, really.

The first step to escape the Digimon was, of course, to run back down the mountain. Probably not the safest idea- all their friends were down there- but it was the best Joe could think of at the time, and she wasn't going to discourage him when she didn't know what to do, either.

And then the path in front of them had disintegrated. And Joe and Gomamon had fallen. And neither Ib or Lalamon were able to do anything about it.

They were okay, thankfully. Gomamon had Digivolved to Ikkakumon at just the right time.

But it could have ended differently. They could have hit the ground, and shattered, and she wouldn't have been able to stop it. Because whatever it was to trigger their partners gaining knew power, she had no clue how to do it. If she even could.

It hadn't even been a week, but she couldn't help but wonder why she was even here, if she was just going to be the thing she hated most. Helpless.

"We're going back to the others," She said, once she'd managed to safely hop down onto the white walrus' back. "It'll be better, if we're all together. Safer."

And she wanted it to be safe. She didn't want to have to keep worrying about people dying, even if it seemed like it was just going to keep happening.

And she already knew, when it did happen, there wasn't going to be any way she could help.

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Daichi: Good news is, there shouldn't be any more overly depressing chapters for a bit.

Verity: Isn't Devimon coming up?

Daichi: ...I was honestly trying to forget about that.


	9. They're Not You

Daichi: And now, time for Ib to face the consequences of her actions.

Verity: We don't own anything.

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"You know, I vaguely recall you telling us not to climb the mountain." Ib supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that Sora was waiting for them at the bottom- she seemed the responsible enough type. "And what did the two of you do?"

"We climbed the mountain…"

"Was there at least something cool up there?" Tai asked.

"Well, we've confirmed we're on an island… we also haven't ruled out the possibility of there being a portal back, so… I guess we're making a return trip?"

"After breakfast, though," Joe hastily added. "Gomamon Digivolved earlier, needs something to eat before going up again."

Sora did not seem impressed. "You mean you want to go back somewhere that needed Gomamon to Digivolve?"

"Okay, when you put it like that it sounds really bad…" Joe admitted. Ib sighed.

"I'd really rather not go back up there, but even if it's not the portal, I think that's where the Black Gears come from. So if we don't want to deal with them anymore… get rid of them at the source." She thought that was how it went, anyway.

"Does that work?" Tai asked.

"I don't have much reason to believe it doesn't. But, well, breakfast first. And the way we started climbing isn't open anymore due to a little issue… but we'll figure it out, I'm sure of it."

She was lying, of course. She had no clue if things would be okay or not. But it sounded good coming out of her mouth, and the others were taking it as reassurance, and that was all that mattered, in the end.

Something… they'd figure something out. Hopefully, before whatever dangers lurked in this world managed to kill any of them.

Ib wasn't keeping her hopes up.

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The second climb of the mountain, objectively, went much smoother than the first. Sure, a couple of Champion Digimon in the form of Leomon and Ogremon attacked, but they were blown off the cliff before anything bad happened.

Ib was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things were never this simple, could never be this simple, it was almost as though they were being watched.

"Lalamon, tell me if you see anything strange," She instructed her partner. "Digimon that don't belong, Black Gears… anything."

"Got it!" The little flying plant agreed. "But… wouldn't it be better to send Tentomon or Biyomon?"

"They don't have the strength to Digivolve," She reminded her, "After what happened earlier. And even if they did, I don't have any say of what they do. They're not mine. They're not you." She'd lend out some amount of trust to all the partners, of course, but the only one she would ever entrust with her life would be her own.

"I guess so…" Lalamon seemed to be hesitant about the whole thing, but Ib didn't think that would be a problem. "Do you really trust me that much?"

"I don't see how I have any other choice." It was strange, how quickly she'd grown to rely on the odd little creature, but there was no way she was telling her that. Just in case her trust had, in fact, been misplaced.

She didn't think it was. But it was always better just to be safe.

"Right! I won't let you down!" Of course she wouldn't. Not when Ib didn't let her expectations get that high to begin with. Not that she'd say much- there were few faster ways to kill somebody's motivation.

Instead, she'd just hope for the best she could, which was maybe not as much as the others were hoping for, but she preferred to call it being realistic. She didn't believe there would be a truly happy ending.

But if the ones closest to her stayed alive through all of this… she'd call it good enough.

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Something wasn't right. Ib wouldn't be able to describe it to anyone else, even if they'd asked, not when they'd only just come upon it, but this place…

It was too perfect. Lawn cut to a precise length, a door without a lock, no sign of dust or abandonment at all. No signs of life, either.

To her, the painting was the last nail in the coffin. Even if the others didn't have the same reaction she did.

"It's really pretty," Patamon stated. "You call it an angel, right? What do angels do?"

"They protect people," Sora replied. "Kind of like you guys. They say everyone has a guardian angel watching over them… maybe you Digimon are ours."

"An angel, huh…?" The little orange creature seemed to come to a decision, and he nodded. "Okay, then! I'll be the best guardian angel in the whole world!"

Ib thought he might actually be able to do it, if he put his heart behind it. Patamon seemed so devoted to T.K., it was hard to imagine the two of them without each other. And with how strong Digimon could get, well…

At the very least, they weren't so fragile for their lives to depend on a single flower.

"Ib?" Izzy turned to her. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." Once they were out of this mansion, which was far too good for her to be true, and the painting that, well… This was the first time that she'd been close to one since the incident.

"This place must bring back bad memories for you," Joe stated. He always had been too observant for his own good.

"...Yeah. Just a little." And even without the painting, oils seeming to be mocking her from their frame for being so weak, something was off. But she had to admit that the painting was a major source of her misgivings.

"Bad memories? What kind of bad memories?" And Tai wasn't helping, with his utter lack of tact. Well, she supposed a bit of the truth wouldn't hurt.

"When I was nine, I got lost inside an art gallery. Things went wrong, and… people died. One of them… he was my best friend." Only friend, but given what had happened… he'd more than earned the title.

"O-oh. Sorry."

"It's okay. It- it was years ago. I'm fine now." Maybe, if she kept telling herself that, it would even become true.

She didn't think she was that lucky.

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That night, feelings of worry kept pricking at her. It was something about that painting, how the building itself wasn't right… Ib needed to find a way to keep this from being another disaster.

Eventually, she decided to just go downstairs and see for herself if her worries were founded or not. She chose not to wake up Lalamon, leaving her Digimon surrounded by soft blankets- she couldn't Digivolve, anyway, and if there was trouble, she wouldn't immediately confront it. She knew better than that.

From above, it looked just like a normal painting at first. She didn't want to actually go downstairs or anything, she'd hate to be at ground zero when the trap went off, but… just a few minutes. That was all she'd need. Just to prove herself wrong.

But then the painting rippled, and changed. An angel became a demon, and the demon stepped out of the portrait.

For once, the feeling of vindication didn't really make anything better. And the demon Digimon was between her and the exit.

...Not that she was prepared to leave just yet. This was where Joe and Lalamon were, and she'd rather not lose either of them. Making a decision, she slipped back into the bedroom to wake up her partner.

If Lalamon couldn't Digivolve, she didn't stand a chance. But Ib refused to give up without a fight.

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Ib watched the land pass by underneath her, clutching Lalamon tightly in her arms. It had been so simple, to make the decision to fight when the battle was still several minutes removed. But when it came down to it… she simply couldn't order the little plant-thing into battle. It would have felt too much like she was sending her to her death.

"Do you think the others will be okay?" Her Digimon asked. Of course they wouldn't. They could barely survive the island all together, they didn't stand a chance separate.

But she couldn't tell Lalamon that. It'd feel too much like she was giving up. On Joe, on sweet little T.K. and his Patamon… everyone. It would mean admitting the possibility that she'd just lost them forever.

So, instead, she simply said, "I don't know, Lalamon." It wasn't even a lie.

She just had to hope that her fears didn't become the truth.

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Daichi: ...I don't think there are enough therapists in the world for this.


	10. There's Always A Choice

Daichi: If things are going in episode order… let's see more of Joe! It'll be less depressing!

Verity: We don't own these things. Thankfully.

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It was sort of strange, not having Ib there. Joe had sort of gotten used to relying on the older girl, in some strange way. She certainly didn't seem like the most reliable person, and she certainly relied on him just as much.

But she had also been his one point of familiarity in this strange new world he'd found himself a part of, so he supposed it wasn't really that odd.

"Joe… are we there yet?" Gomamon asked, sprawled out on his back in the middle of the bed they were floating on.

"Not yet, Gomamon. I don't even know where 'there' is." If Ib were there, she would have said it would be the way out. While most people would be excited at the idea of adventuring in another world, and exploring a new land, she wouldn't. And with the stories she told… he didn't blame her.

"'There' is land, silly! Or food, then I could Digivolve to Ikkakumon and take you to land!" The little seal sounded rather proud of himself for his deduction. Joe didn't have the heart to tell him that he'd considered the idea hours ago, but gave it up because of the low odds of them finding food, unless they wanted to try raw fish, and he didn't know how to make sushi.

"Yeah… you could, couldn't you?" He sighed and leaned back, wondering if they'd actually reach land, or if the bed would capsize first. Sure, Gomamon had his Marching Fishes, but…

"Joe… hey, Joe!" He sat up, glancing around for an enemy before glaring at Gomamon. "...Sorry. But you were starting to worry again."

"We're drifting on the ocean with no food or fresh water. Trust me, I am as calm as I'll ever be." He might never have been camping before this whole fiasco took place, but he did know that going without those things was bad.

"...You know, I don't think I've ever seen anyone less calm," His partner pointed out. "Unless you count the time Ib went crazy, anyway."

"That wasn't her fault, though," He sighed. "She just… she's been through a lot. This isn't her first time going between worlds, and… well, it hurt her, the last time."

"And she's the only one who's less calm than you! So you need to lighten up."

"Tell me that again once we find land." Or food. Or fresh water. But saying those things out loud would make Gomamon declare that he'd won their little debate. And Joe didn't think he'd be able to bring himself to disagree with him.

Assuming, of course, that they lived long enough for that to matter.

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Even after she was certain Devimon wasn't immediately following her, it had taken some time for Ib to get back to sleep. She knew she needed it, there was little she'd be able to do for herself or the others if she collapsed, but there could be any number of dangerous Digimon around and she didn't have a proper way to defend herself. The sleep she did get wasn't all that restful, either, though she supposed it was better than nothing.

Lalamon didn't have any of those problems. She'd just made sure the world was still, and then had dozed off in her partner's arms. Like none of the nightmare that just occurred had affected her at all.

It was probably just an act. Ib was well-versed in the art of pretending that everything was okay, to the point where most people believed it, a lot of the time. Why would her Digimon be any different?

Still… seeing the peacefully-sleeping little plant, she didn't have the heart to wake her. So she adjusted her grip as to not drop her Digimon, and started wandering through the forest, in search of something, or someone. Whichever ended up happening first.

In a sense, she found both. She'd heard the waterfall first, figured it would be nice to go there, get some fresh drinking water, and pretend that everything was going much less terribly than it actually was.

When she got there, she saw T.K. sitting next to Patamon, looking up at the sky. "T.K.? Patamon? Are the two of you alright?" She asked, stepping into the clearing.

The little boy immediately turned around to face her. "Oh! It's Ib and Lalamon! Have you seen Matt anywhere?"

Ib shook her head. "No, sorry. I don't know what happened to any of the others. How are you feeling?"

"...I want to Digivolve," Patamon finally muttered. "I-I can't do anything right now. Biyomon would already be up there by now." He gestured towards the top of the waterfall.

"Not without any food, she wouldn't," She pointed out. "Have either of you gotten anything to eat?"

The fates of the others were still unknown… but right then, they could at least take care of themselves. Maybe they'd even find something on the way.

Whatever that thing was, though… if none of them knew what is was, things were bound to go much worse than they would have otherwise. That was just how things worked.

Maybe she should wake Lalamon up… just in case.

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Coniferous forest… full of fog… and a spooky looking church on a hill. Joe figured Ib would be able to handle a place like that a lot better than he and Sora would- she'd had experience in the world of settings from out of horror movies.

But Ib wasn't there. She was… wherever she'd gone, after Devimon split them all apart. Maybe she'd be okay, maybe she wouldn't. He didn't know, and it wouldn't matter to him unless he managed to survive this.

"Look!" Sora hissed, sounding rather hopeful for someone in their position. "People!" Yes, the denizens of this area did, in fact, look human, but if Ib's stories meant anything, it was that just looking human was no guarantee of it- let alone that they would be allies.

"Are we sure we should be doing this right now?" Joe found himself asking. "I mean- Gomamon, Biyomon, can you Digivolve?"

Gomamon shook his head. "I'm too hungry. What about you, Biyomon?"

"I haven't eaten in more than a day."

"So, if it's a trap, we have no way of getting out." He wasn't sure why that was such a hard concept for her, Matt, and Tai to grasp. Then again, the three of them were best friends…

"Why would it be a trap? Joe, there are humans there. Actual humans!"

"Do you know that for sure?" It was funny, he thought. In another world, he might not have questioned this odd turn of events, or at least not so thoroughly. A world where he'd never met Ib, where she hadn't chosen to confide in him. It wasn't something he could easily imagine. In a world like that… his best friend might as well have not existed.

It was sort of a scary thought. With how they'd first met… maybe a world like that could have happened just by her not remembering, and continuing to live life as a normal girl, and this new world would be where they met for the first time.

But there was another way it could have happened. If she had never been there, her existence stolen by a world with an atmosphere like this area. Joe decided not to think about that possibility.

"Our Digimon say we're the first… humans… here." It was that moment of realization on Sora's face that, in a better time, would have given Joe an odd sense of vindication. Now, though, the victory felt rather… hollow. Being a life-threatening situation probably helped with that. "Let's… go grab some fish real quick."

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Ib saw Primary Village as a good place to rest. Maybe to stay, if they never figured out how to do anything about the demon on the mountain. T.K. and Patamon would like it there, and Lalamon could think up a good lullaby for the babies.

If they ended up staying there. She wasn't entirely sure about that part, but she didn't think she'd be opposed to it.

"Hey, T.K.." Ib glanced over to see Patamon trying to get his partner's attention.

"Yeah?"

"When these babies Digivolve, they'll have to leave. And I-"

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to Digivolve anymore!" The little winged guinea pig proclaimed. If Ib was closer, she thought she might have been able to see tears in his eyes. "I don't want to leave! I want to stay with you!"

"Patamon, why- why would you leave?" T.K. asked, sounding more than a little hurt by the notion. Okay, this needed to stop now. Lalamon could handle a Choromon, anyway.

"What's going on here?" They both turned to face her, as though they'd forgotten she was there with them. Given how quickly the two of them had bonded with Elecmon, maybe they had. "Why is Patamon crying?"

"...I don't want to leave T.K.."

"Are you planning to?" She asked, because that seemed to suddenly be a very important question.

"Of course not! It's just… I think… Devimon's really strong, and I'd only be able to do anything if I Digivolve. But if I Digivolve…"

Ib sighed. She wasn't qualified for this, in any way. "When Gabumon became Garurumon, did he leave Matt?"

"No…"

"And now that Biyomon can become Birdramon, do you see her leaving Sora?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what makes you think you'll have to leave T.K.?"

"I-I don't know. I just- what if I don't have a choice?" And in a moment, Ib wasn't there anymore, but in a dark hallway that smelled like blood and paint, thorns biting into her hand as she was given an empty promise.

Her hand slipped into her pocket, fingers brushing cold metal, and she was in the present again, forced to think of an answer to a question that she'd been trying to keep herself from asking the whole time.

"...There's always a choice." She just as quickly made her way over to Lalamon, because she couldn't let the kids see her tears. Of all the ways for that to come rushing back… well. She'd stand by what she said. There was always a choice.

And it was her choice, there and then, to look after those children as best she was able. T.K. was even younger than she had been, he needed someone to take care of him. And she was the only one who could. So that he and Patamon would never end up having to leave each other alone.

And, when Leomon attacked, a few days later, and her wish to protect them enveloped Lalamon… she thought maybe it was a sign, that she'd made the right decision after all.

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Daichi: So, yeah… Digimon Adventure canon takes place in a timeline where Mary, Garry, and Ib all died. Or, at least, never left the Gallery.


	11. How Did You Know?

Daichi: And now to finish off File Island! Finally!

Verity: Given how many episodes got cut…

Daichi: Did you just want to see Tai and Matt fight a lot? Because that was the alternative!

BlackGatomon: No ownership here, move along.

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Sometimes, Joe hated being right. "Did we really have to do that?" He asked, glancing from Ikkakumon's back at the burning island behind them.

"Well, what if the others had ended up there somehow?" Sora pointed out.

"These things can track others!" He reminded her, waving his blue device in the air. "If anyone else was headed that way, they didn't make it. You just wanted to burn something down."

"Well, I think they deserved it," Birdramon opined.

"That doesn't count- we told you about Halloween!"

"They used a day for candy against us," Ikkakumon stated. "I agree with Birdramon."

"Of course you do…" Currently in Champion form or not… that didn't change the fact that their partners spent almost all their time as Rookies. Apparently, some things stuck. Like the ever undefeatable sweet tooth.

Either way, it didn't matter. It had happened, and now they were hoping to find some part of the island that wasn't on fire. Joe thought Ib would find the story sort of funny. Both she and Sora, when stuck in another world, turned to flames as the solution. Still, he couldn't help but feel sorry for any innocent Digimon living on that part of the island…

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It had started off as a… well, Ib wouldn't call anything that happened in this world a 'normal day' just yet. But things had actually been sort of okay. T.K. and Patamon were playing with the babies, and seemed to be enjoying themselves, while Elecmon prepared breakfast. Ib and Lalamon didn't really have a task to do in the mornings beyond making sure nobody wandered off, but that could be a full job by itself sometimes.

...Such as now, apparently. "Poyomon!" Ib chased after the little white blob, hopping across the bouncy floor of the village towards the forest. "Come back!"

The little Digimon gave no sign of having heard her voice. "...Lalamon, how quickly can you fly?"

"Not fast enough." Her partner was still flying alongside her. She'd almost gotten used to it, was starting to think that maybe it was meant to be that way. But there was still that small doubt, that didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon. "He can't get that far, though. There's not much food in the forest." And the main way to attract a Digimon was to promise to feed them.

Now there was an idea. "Poyomon, if you run off like that, you're going to miss breakfast!"

That was enough to get the small creature's attention, the jellyfish turning around and hopping right back. Nice and predictable. Not enough was.

"Come on, let's get you back to the others. I think we're having rice and bacon today…" Did she know where the meat came from? No. Did she care? Not really.

The tiny blob squeaked excitedly, bouncing ahead back towards the other Digimon. "I guess the way to a Baby Digimon's heart is through the stomach," Lalamon remarked.

Ib raised an eyebrow. "Just Baby Digimon?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"I've seen you eat. I didn't even think it was physically possible…" The Rookie had eaten meals twice her size before. Somehow.

Suddenly, Ib got the feeling that she was being watched. Quickly, she turned around, but there was nobody there. "Lalamon."

"Yes?"

"Keep an eye out for possible trouble, would you? It's just a feeling I have…" One of these days, she half-expected the pink flying plant to say no. That her partner would turn and leave her behind.

But today, at least, she didn't, floating nearby and twirling around like a ballerina. Ib didn't think she'd see much of anything that way, but, well, at least she was having fun.

That much, at least, was impossible to begrudge.

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It was half an hour later when Ib's feeling of danger resolved itself. Leomon was large and powerful, and was aiming for T.K. and Patamon over her and Lalamon, which she didn't really understand. Or want to. The world was cruel, and anything else didn't really need elaboration.

"We need to stop him!" Lalamon cried. "Come on, Ib!"

"What are we supposed to do, though?" She asked. "We're not that strong."

"But we can be!" Her partner insisted. "We can't let them be hurt! I know it's scary, but we have to try!"

Right… they had to. Because if anything happened to T.K., Matt would not forgive her. She wouldn't even forgive herself, for allowing anything like that. Whatever it took.

"Let's do this, Lalamon," She whispered, and her partner lunged forward. Leomon turned to face her, but the glow of Digivolution had already enveloped her.

Sunflowmon, it turned out, had lasers. That was… actually pretty cool. Not that Ib would say anything like that, but, well… laser sunflower. That was so much better than Joe's walrus. It almost made up for her Digivolved form being yet another plant.

Still, though, it could be worse. She could be made of roses. That would kind of suck.

Tai and Matt arrived a bit later, along with Izzy and Mimi. Apparently, they'd met up on the way to Primary Village, and were surprised to see Leomon already defeated and on their side. Ib tried not to think too much about the fact that Joe and Sora hadn't come with them.

Leomon told them that they were supposed to be something called 'DigiDestined', and Izzy and Mimi confirmed that the blue things they'd all been carrying around were called Digivices. Tai poked fun at the fact that Sunflowmon was just a flower, only to get swiped at by a spiked tail. He quickly changed his tune after that, and Ib was glad for it.

Elecmon provided food, and they all made plans to face Devimon that evening. Ib and Sunflowmon kept watch until then, the latter eating whatever she could to help maintain that form.

"How did you know?" Ib asked her partner, glancing into the forest, which danger could come from at any moment.

"Huh? How did I know what?"

"That you could Digivolve."

A leafy shrug. "I just figured that, if the others could do it, why couldn't I? Really, Ib, don't you have any faith in me?"

"...I'm not sure I have much faith in anything," She admitted. "Just… things happen, and I don't really know what to do, then. I just have to go with what feels right."

"And does this feel right?"

"More than anything else here." It wasn't saying much, and she thought her Digimon could understand that. But it was still better than nothing, and that was important, because they didn't really have anything else to go on. Just themselves, and the other kids, and the occasional feeling that something didn't belong, though it was outside their power to understand what.

But it didn't matter where it came from, or what it ended up being. They just had to defeat Devimon, and head home afterwards. Nothing else mattered.

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Seeing Joe again was more of a relief than Ib would have liked to admit. They had different battle positions- him at the bottom of the mountain with Ikkakumon, her standing on a ledge, Sunflowmon protectively guarding her with her tail, the two of them close by to T.K. in the case of trouble- but it meant that, despite her misgivings, all of them had survived. They could make it through this, and it wouldn't be nearly as dangerous as she had imagined.

Of course, what Ib had imagined was a truly unwinnable situation that would end with File Island on fire, but that was semantics, really.

The current situation wasn't that far off, either. Greymon was swatted into the mountain by a large claw, as if he were nothing more than a fly, Birdramon had been forced to make an emergency landing, she didn't even know where Leomon went… it was, apparently, a disaster above all else.

And then Devimon turned his attention to the ledge where she and T.K. stood. He didn't even seem to register the presence of Ib and Sunflowmon, no matter how many lasers blasted his wrist, as he tore away the ground beneath the youngest DigiDestined's feet.

Ib froze. All she could think about was how Matt was never going to forgive her, for letting anything happen to his little brother. That she'd failed to keep the smallest of them safe, and what was the point, really, of choosing her to save the world if she couldn't even protect anyone?

There was a flash of light down the mountain, more brilliant than any before, and she didn't even have time to wonder where it came from before an angelic Digimon was setting T.K. back down on the ledge next to her.

"Did you know this would happen?" She found herself asking. "Back when you saw the painting?"

"Just a fortunate coincidence," The newest Champion replied. "You'll take care of him, won't you?" His tone of voice told Ib something that she was sure he didn't want her to know. And anyone else wouldn't have been able to notice. But she did.

She'd heard it once before, after all.

T.K. was younger than she had been. Losing his partner… it was going to devastate him. "I will," She promised, to herself as much as the Digimon in front of her. "If I can figure out how to get past Matt, anyway."

"But… Matt's not here," T.K. pointed out, still shaken from the fall. Neither Ib or Angemon had the heart to tell him the real meaning behind their words. Sunflowmon was still blissfully oblivious, shooting lasers at Devimon while he barely registered her presence.

"...Don't worry about it," Ib finally found herself saying. "Just… stay here with me, okay?"

The boy listened. Angemon flew up to confront Devimon. And Ib wondered if there hadn't been something she could have done, to make things better.

It was probably for the best that she didn't have an answer.

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Daichi: ...Again, not enough therapists in the world.


	12. It's Not Fair

Daichi: And now to finally get off this island! It's actually going to happen this time!

Tsukaimon: And how much suffering is going to be involved here?

Daichi: About as much as can be expected.

Verity: We don't own these things.

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"Angemon… so this is what you chose, huh?" Ib stared up at the brilliant white feathers, the last hints that the youngest of their Champions had ever been there. T.K. was next to her, completely inconsolable at the death of his partner.

She could understand why the decision had been made, of course. He'd wanted to protect T.K., and everything else came second. Even his own life.

But that left the rest of them behind to pick up the pieces. To try and figure out what to do next, how they could possibly save the world when even their first battle had come with a casualty they weren't prepared to accept. She'd tell the little boy that it would all turn out okay, but she didn't feel like lying to anyone today. Especially not a hurt child.

"Do you want to see your brother?" She asked instead, turning to the sobbing boy beside her. He nodded, but made no attempt to move. "Lalamon, go get Matt. And Joe. And everyone else, we need all the help we can get right now."

Her partner flew off silently. Hopefully to do as she said, because as much as Ib could sympathize, that didn't necessarily mean she knew what to do in this situation. But she'd told Angemon she'd look after his partner, and so she would.

Even as the feathers landed in front of them. Even as they coalesced together into the shape of an egg, and she couldn't bring herself to look at anyone, hating herself for being jealous of a grieving child, no matter how unfair it was that he got his friend back, and she didn't.

But she'd still look after him, because she'd promised.

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Gennai didn't notice she was there at first. Ib knew that because, when he told them to come to Server, and fight enemies even stronger than Devimon, she'd spoken up.

"Why? We only barely defeated Devimon, and it took all that Angemon had to do it." She didn't use the word 'won'. What had just happened was hardly a victory. "What makes you think we could handle Digimon that are even stronger?"

Gennai seemed surprised to hear her voice. Still, he kept himself composed, replying with, "It's fairly simple, actually- oh, who were you, again?"

"Ib Himekawa." She ignored the implications that he already knew everyone's names beforehand. That could be delved into later, as well as the fact that this world really did expect kids to be able to solve all their problems. "I'm Lalamon's partner."

"Yes, well, it's true that facing your new opponents would be difficult as it is now, but if your Digimon could Digivolve even further, it would be fairly easy."

"We can Digivolve even more?" Agumon asked, and Gennai launched into a description of Tags and Crests, and the sort of power that they would give, in the hands of the right person.

Ib didn't ask how they could tell who the right person was. If it had picked her, then this world already had a pretty terrible track record when it came to choosing saviours. And, well, maybe it was a good thing that she didn't get them off topic with that, because the transmission glitched out soon after.

She didn't have a very high opinion of Gennai, honestly. They were all children, she was the only one with experience with other worlds, and now they had all been conscripted to deal with something they had no stakes in.

...Okay, so they had technically been conscripted when they had a bunch of Digivices thrown at them, but that was just semantics. Particularly when they hadn't even been told what picking them up would pull them into.

Suffice to say, Ib didn't think much of the suggestion to run off of the island where they at least knew the dangers to some unfamiliar continent on some random old person's word, and she told the others as much. It could be a trap, the enemies could simply be too powerful for them, they could have problems so much as crossing the ocean…

...But then T.K. had looked at the rest of them with teary eyes and proclaimed that he'd be going to Server, because he thought that was what Angemon would have wanted, and they all caved.

She guessed they were going to Server.

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"I thought I'd find you here. Do you… want to talk about it?" Ib didn't respond at first, staring out over the lake they'd stayed by that first night. Joe didn't push her, they were all too tired for that, but she still spoke up, eventually.

"He knew what would happen, I think. Before the possibility even occurred to me." She was talking about Angemon, he knew, though from the way she turned that old lighter over in her hand, she could just as easily have been thinking about someone else.

"You mean back at the mansion, with the angel?" He suggested. Better to keep her mind in the present, where things had actually sort-of turned out okay, than the tragedies that lay in her past.

"...No. Not that. I didn't think a lot of it, at first. But Patamon said that he didn't want to Digivolve, because- because he didn't want to leave T.K.. Like he knew what would happen to him, the first time that he did. He always knew."

"...You couldn't have seen this happening," He reminded her, because apparently she still needed reminding, at this point. "And even if you did, what then? I don't think any of us could have done anything to stop it… and lived, anyway."

"Living… for Digimon, that doesn't seem to mean as much as it does to the rest of us." His friend gave a small, humorless laugh. "He- he said everything would be okay, you know? That I just had to call for him and- and he'd be there." And, suddenly, they were no longer talking about Angemon.

Joe had heard the story before, though there was never all that much detail. It had never seemed important that he ask for it. That little tidbit had consistently slipped through the cracks, though it explained a lot more than Ib probably realized. He wouldn't be the one to tell her that, though. Things were already complicated enough. "He cared about you."

"I know. And Angemon cares for T.K., just as much, and I'm happy they'll be together again, really, but-" She cut herself off, and he decided he didn't want to look too closely at her face at the moment, because being trapped in this world for so long was already straining, and seeing the strongest face they had cry would only make it worse. "It's not fair."

Well. He didn't think there really was any way he could address that.

"Ib! There you are!" Lalamon flew over to them, and Ib tightly held her partner to her chest. Joe decided to give them some space, walking back along the shoreline to where the others were.

Gomamon was awake, too. The only one at their little camp who was- Joe supposed it was his turn to take watch now. Ib certainly wasn't in any condition to. "Where've you been off to, Joe?" The little seal asked, his eyes gaining an odd sort of glint under the light of the moon.

"Oh, you know, just… thinking." The lie came to him so easily, after years of covering up Ib doing things like knocking down all of the clothes at the store, because she had a flashback and was scared of the mannequins. And she really had given him quite a lot to think about. "You know, once they die, humans don't come back?"

"I'd wondered," His partner shrugged. "It makes sense. I mean, if you did come back, why would we have to protect you?" That was actually a pretty good point.

"I guess that's one way to put it. We'd be lost without you, you know?" Ib had been lost for a long time beforehand, but that wasn't something Joe felt he could just talk about. Even to his own Digimon.

"Yeah, I know, I'm awesome." Gomamon waved a flipper nonchalantly. Joe couldn't even bring himself to argue.

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The DigiDestined left File Island late the next morning. Ib stood at the edge of their makeshift raft, watching the place that they had all gotten used to fade away into the distance. Next to her, T.K. snuggled his newly-hatched Poyomon, and she had to remind herself to be happy for him.

"What do you think it'll be like, on Server?" Lalamon asked, and she jumped on the opportunity to distract herself.

"Probably more like File than my world." That was the most she could say for certain. "And it'll be bigger than the island, too, that's why it's called a continent."

"So… lots of places for us to explore?"

"Don't get carried away. It'll be dangerous there. You remember what Gennai said- it's full of opponents who are even more powerful than Devimon."

"Well, yeah, but once we can Digivolve farther…"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," She warned. "You've only even become Sunflowmon the once. It might have been for a long time, but that's still one Digivolution compared to Agumon's five." That they knew of, it could easily have been more. But she didn't mention that. She didn't want her cheery little plant partner to start rivalling her in cynicism or anything.

"I did really well then, though, right?" Ib couldn't bring herself to tell Lalamon that it clearly hadn't been enough, or Patamon would be playing in the sky with Biyomon and Tentomon right then. Survivor's guilt was a cruel mistress, and she wasn't about to subject anyone else to that particular hell.

"...Yeah. Yeah, you did." If only Devimon had noticed them instead of T.K., maybe things would have turned out better. Or maybe they would all have just ended up buried in a landslide.

It wasn't a kind thought, but Ib had run out of those years ago. She just had to get through whatever this crazy world threw at her, head home, and forget that any of this had ever happened.

Well, maybe not the last part. Despite how much it hurt… she knew it would be doing the world a disservice to forget.

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Daichi: And now we're finally off the island! Maybe not proper plot can occur!

Verity: Or you could hold yourself back and just jump off the rails all at once later.

Daichi: Don't tempt me...


End file.
